Springtime is for Changes
by NinjaMuffins
Summary: Young civilians Kamiko Rock and her friends Yuka and Lee Ren meet a squad of Konoha ninja sent to their village on a mission. Kamiko finds herself growing more and more attached to one of them, by the name of Maito Gai. A Rock Lee's Parents theory. R
1. The Ninja are Coming!

The Daisuke village was considered to be a quiet one. The people that lived there were the kind to avoid conflict, they kept mostly to themselves and usually had little or no enemies. However, this slowly began to change when winter arrived. People started turning up missing, and some were even being found dead. Nobody had a clue why they were being targeted for such misfortune, and the village leader assured them that he would contact some of the Kages about this. Since Daisuke had no trained ninja in residence, allies from separate villages were Daisuke's only chance of returning to normal.

A young woman named Kamiko was gladly walking home, groceries in arms. The rain from earlier that day had come to an end, and faint signs of spring began to come out of hiding. Her long, smooth black hair gently swayed behind her as she hummed a tune. Surely the circumstances the village was facing would brighten with the sun!

"Whatcha so happy about there, Kami?" A young man's voice asked.

"Oh, it's just the change of weather that's got my spirits up, Lee." Kamiko smiled at her best friend, a blonde-haired blue-eyed fellow on the short side. Ren Lee was a cheerful type of person whom Kamiko had known all her life.

"Really? C'mon, look at you! You've bought yourself a new dress! Are you sure that you're just not excited about those ninja from the Leaf Village getting here today?"

Now that Lee mentioned it, today WAS the day the Leaf ninja were supposed to arrive. "I completely forgot, Lee! But that's right, isn't it? I'll feel so much better when I see them."

"You and me both. I heard those ninja women are kinda cute."

"Lee!"

"Whaaat?"

Kamiko rolled her eyes, still keeping her pace. "Oh nothing, Lee." She mocked, waiting for a witty reply. But she didn't get one right away. "Erm, Lee?" Kamiko looked over her shoulder to see her companion had suddenly stopped walking.

There was a smile on his face. "So THOSE are ninja? That tall one's sure color-blind, I tell you! I thought they all wore black!" Lee looked as if he were trying not to laugh.

Kamiko squinted her eyes, trying to find the people Lee was talking about. When she finally spotted them, the girl had trouble not smiling herself.

The one that was farthest ahead was indeed tall, from where she was standing she saw his hair was black and shiny, and he was wearing a Chuunin vest with a green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers. Behind him were three others, one was another boy with brown hair and glasses, wearing a black shirt and purple shorts. Another was a girl, with shoulder-length blue hair, a pink hoodie, and a black skirt. Their sensei was a man who towered over them, with long black hair, brown pants, a black fishnet top and a Jounin vest. They each seemed much stronger than the average Daisuke citizen, because they, in fact, were.

"Well, there's a cute girl for ya, Lee." Kamiko teased. Lee only half-smiled, lightly punching her side.

"Wanna go say hi to them?" He suggested.

Kamiko shook her head. "Not now, I have to run these bags to the house. We can find them later, right?"

"I guess so. I know! I should invite them over to my place! It would be so cool!" Lee took a moment to admire his smart thinking.

Kamiko didn't say anything to him, because she was already gone. She had heard him though, and had liked the idea herself. The Ren family owned a small bar that could surely entertain their guests.

Lee had also headed back home, feeling quite pleased with himself. "Oi! Yuka! Guess who's coming over tonight?"

A short lady who looked very similar to Lee glanced up from wiping a glass. "Er. Kamiko Rock?" She tried to guess. Her brother shook his head.

"Nah! I invited those ninja to come over some time and their sensei said it wouldn't be too bad if they refreshed a bit before their real mission." Lee grinned as he watched Yuka's expression change.

"Wow! So they're finally here! It's about time too, these attacks have been going on long enough already."

"Yeah. I'm gonna go see if Kami-Chan needs any help, she looked busy today. See you later, sis." With that said, he left as fast as he had arrived.

Yuka thoughtfully put her clean glass away. "Since when does Lee offer to help people?" She jokingly thought to herself.


	2. First Impressions

Everything was finally put away. Kamiko folded up the bags she had been carrying and took a look outside. It had gotten so warm lately. She closed the window. "Nobody needs me to stay inside." Kamiko decided, reaching for some pen and paper. She scrawled a note explaining that she was going to be out for a while, before stepping out.

"This was a nice idea. It's good to enjoy the sun while I can." Kamiko took a deep, relaxing breath and wished that Lee had come along. His company was always fun.

"You should see springtime in Konoha! It's a beautiful thing to behold!" A voice that was unfamiliar to Kamiko made her jump, and her first thought was that the voice belonged to Daisuke's attacker.

But it was one of the Leaf ninja Lee and her had watched come in. Now that she was closer Kamiko noticed how unnaturally large his eyebrows were. "Hello." Was all she could say.

"I'm Maito Gai, the handsome devil of the Leaf Village!" Maito Gai flashed a sparkly smile and a thumbs up to Kamiko, who just sweat-dropped.

"Eh-heh-heh… my name's Kamiko Rock, and I sorta live here and all. We're so glad you guys showed up!" She scratched the back of her head, not sure what else to tell him.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Rock!" Gai's bright smile never left his face. "That's what we do after all."

"I guess it is." Kamiko looked over towards some flowers that were coming out of the ground. "So, what's it like this time of the year where you live?"

"It's very similar, but it doesn't rain as much so the ground's a little less muddy." Gai explained. "The explosion of color just fills me with more energy every morning! I call this the springtime of youth!"

There was another sweat-drop from Kamiko's direction. "That's… very nice." This Gai person wasn't at all like the ninja you'd hear about in stories. The ninja Kamiko would read about were stealthy, discrete, and not as… loud. _Are all of Konoha's people like this?_ She wondered to herself.

She wasn't left to ponder this for long, due to a large crashing sound from some bushes not too far away. Both she and Gai watched them intently, Gai already standing protectively over Kamiko in a fighting stance. "Do you think it could be them?" He asked, not looking away.

"I'm not really sure, but I don't think they'd make so much noise and get away from us for all this time." Kamiko answered truthfully. "Hopefully it's just an animal or something…"

They waited, holding their breath, when a twig snapped behind them. In what seemed to be a millisecond, Gai spun around and kicked whoever was there, so that they soared against a tree and crashed. The Chuunin watched as they slid towards the ground, and Kamiko recognized the person's groan.

"Gai, please stop! It's only my friend!" She cried, just as Lee reached the ground. There was a dull thud and another soft moan.

"Ow…. That... was… awesome…"

Kamiko shook her head. "Bah, Lee." She sighed. "You're okay, right?"

Lee got up and gently poked where Gai had kicked him. "I guess."

Gai struck another weird-looking pose. "Sorry about that."

There was an awkward silence until a "poof!" broke it.

"Gai, is this where you've been?" The speaker was the blue-haired Genin that Kamiko and Lee watched follow Gai and the others into the village. "Sensei wanted us to meet up behind the Mika Sachi's Bookstore to go over what we're supposed to do. We can socialize later."

Kamiko mockingly elbowed Lee, who cringed. "I'm so sorry, Fuji-San! I must be late!" Just before he went to follow Fuji, Gai winked at his two new friends. "I'll find you later, so enjoy your youth!" He gave the thumbs-up smile pose again and the two just "poofed!" away.

Lee was awestruck. "How'd they do that?"

"I suppose they go through a lot of training." Kamiko shrugged. "He didn't hurt you that bad?"

"Eh, actually it's still pretty sore. I wish I could be that fast!" Lee chuckled. "So what was that for, anyway?"

"We thought you were someone else." She explained. Placing a hand over her mouth, she coughed, before continuing. "Anyhow, I was just taking a walk. Wanna join me?"

"Uh…" Lee twiddled his fingers a bit. "I already made so many appointments; it may be hard to find time. But if I try hard enough I might be able to squeeze you in."

"Lee…."

"Of course I will. Man, I can't fool you one second, can I Kami-Chan?"

"No. No you can't."

But that was one of the reasons Lee liked Kamiko so much. "Say, I wonder what Gai meant by 'enjoy our youth'? Did he mean to enjoy it before he showed up again while we still could or something?"

"That's not very nice." Kamiko frowned. "I thought he was okay."

"Oh sure, the ninja man's okay! What about Lee?"

"Don't even start, "Mr. Cute-Ninja-Women" man." Kamiko patted her friend on the head, as he turned light pink.

"Kami-Chan, let's talk about something else."


	3. Oops

"And then, oh then you wouldn't believe what happened next!"

"What, Gai?" Tetsu, Gai and Fuji's other teammate, yawned with boredom.

The green beast's smile grew as he continued his story. "There was an intruder! So being the courageous man I am, I mustered up all of my strength and kicked him hard! He soared through the air, but managed to stop himself with a tree and was quickly back on the ground!"

Tetsu had to pinch himself to stay focused. Gai's stories were rarely ever like the real thing, and by now it was getting very dull. "Uh-huh."

"And the lady, oh she was so worried about me. She cried out and begged me to stop! Was afraid I'd be in danger if I carried on, see, so I obeyed the lady's wishes. After making sure she would be safe, I met up with you guys. Unlike you, I was already saving the people!" Gai made another thumbs up pose. Fuji snorted but didn't say anything. "What's so funny?" Demanded Gai.

Fuji sighed, drumming her fingers along their table. That nice guy pose was so over-used, like how that tale was overly dramatic. "Nothing. It's… allergies. Yeah, I'm allergic to this kind of wood, I guess." This answer seemed to satisfy Gai, and he stretched youthfully.

"We're lucky I found this place, you know. And that's me, Maito Gai, always saving the day!"

"It's a curry place." Tetsu's eye twitched.

"And…?"

Tetsu leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "And I hate curry."

He was given a foul look from Fuji that said 'Now you've done it' while Gai's jaw was agate in shock.

Meanwhile, Lee had cleverly tripped over an offending tree root and gracefully fell into a small ditch full of rocks and water. That is, if you consider Lee to be a clever and graceful person.

"Save meeeee!" Lee tried to jump and grab hold of something- anything, but was failing miserably.

"Try to grab my hand." Kamiko suggested, reaching down. Lee jumped as high as he could and got a firm grip.

Unfortunately, Kamiko wasn't very strong, and was dragged down into the ditch with him.

There was a splash, and Lee hastily got up and pulled his friend back on her feet. "Oopsie." He blushed. "Eh-heh-heh…"

Kamiko groaned when she looked down at herself. "Lee… well, I'll try to push you up a little. Then you can pull me out."

After a few unsuccessful tries, they were finally free. Lee bid Kamiko goodbye as she headed home to clean herself. This wasn't such a bad idea, so Lee went back to his house as well.

Yuka raised her eyes to see her little brother walk in, filthy. "What were you doing today?" She questioned, shuddering a little as some mud dripped on her clean floors.

"Oh! I met this guy, whose name was Gai! Weird, huh? And he did this really fast kick and I flew! Why don't we have a ninja academy here, it would be so cool to do that! And then me and Kami-Chan walked around and talked some, and then I fell in a ditch! Kami-Chan tried to pull me out, but it messed up and then she fell in, and then we got out and went home."

"My, what an… adventure. Lee, clean yourself up and mop the floor. We have customers tomorrow." Lee's face dropped a little.

"Can't you ever let yourself smile for once, Yuka-Kun?" He strode into the house part of Ren's Bar, and locked himself in the bathroom.

Yuka waited until he was out of earshot. "Not often." She smiled to only herself and went back to wiping tables. Actually, Yuka forgot when she last let herself go since their parents' disappearance. She was so busy playing the part of "mother" for not only Lee, but sometimes to customers! It was a relief to know such abnormities were going to be cut short.

Kamiko noticed right away Lee had been in her house, seeing how her note had been moved and there was a little dirt by the front doorway. But that could be taken care of later, and Kamiko was getting tired. She took a warm shower and dressed in a soft nightgown, feeling much better than she had falling into a ditch.

It had been such an eventful day. Meeting Gai and Fuji was an interesting event, as meeting a pair of trained ninja and becoming friends was something Kamiko thought could never happen to her in such a quiet village. Gai had been a lot friendlier than she'd expect, and she found herself excited at the thought of running into him again. He had actually tried to protect her, and his nice guy pose was actually- Kamiko stopped herself from thinking farther about the subject, noticing she was smiling quite a lot. After all, Gai and the others weren't around to stay, so what was the use in becoming so fond of them?

But that was one charming smile, you had to admit.

Kamiko sighed happily, climbing into bed. Charming, indeed. It wasn't a minute later when she fell asleep, still picturing it.


	4. Who You Calling a Rat?

There was a bright ray of sunlight that managed to sneak it's way into Lee's room. He groaned and pulled his covers over his eyes. Mornings weren't really his favorite time of the day. If it were up to Lee, he'd never have to get out of bed in the morning and he could relax all day.

"LEE YOU LAZY BUM. YOU NEVER CLEANED THOSE FLOORS LAST NIGHT!"

Ah, so much for relaxation. Lee rolled out of bed like most days and headed for his unavoidable chore without so much as a change of clothes. This attracted several remarks from his sister, who was concerned that a customer would see him in such a state. Lee decided to hurry up to escape Yuka's nagging and to slide away from anything that resembled real work.

Tetsu, Gai, and Fuji were exploring more of Daisuke when they heard Lee approach them. The short blonde stopped running when he recognized them and waved. "Hey, Fuji!"

Fuji half-heartedly waved back. "Hello, Lee. Aren't you going to say hi to Gai too, since you know him and all." She smiled smugly at Gai while Tetsu chuckled.

_So this is the powerful man that Gai had to fight? I knew it…_ He thought.

"Of course! Hello Gai!" Lee nodded in Gai's direction, how could he not remember him?

Lee had led his new friends through the village, giving a detailed tour as they went along. Gai and Fuji both seemed to be concentrating on everything Lee told them, while Tetsu seemed disinterested about the matter. After several hours of getting to know their way around Daisuke, they stopped inside a small building that Lee promised he'd get them food in. Tetsu froze, remembering the place from yesterday. "Not more curry…" He grumbled.

Meanwhile, Kamiko had woken up to a small list of chores left by her father. Most of it involved housework, which was something she could get to right away. There was a point among all the sweeping and wiping that she wondered why Lee hadn't showed up at her door yet; he was always trying to find an excuse to hang out with her. After what seemed to take forever, Kamiko noticed how it was nearing lunchtime. Kamiko brushed her dress off, and looked through some cupboards. She could fix something herself, or she could find Lee, wherever he was, and they could find something else.

"Do I have anything else I can do…?" Kamiko took a last glance at her to-do list. The instructions at the very bottom made her heart freeze with realization.

_Gather some flowers for Aimi._

Aimi Rock had been her mother, and her birthday had been a few days ago. Both Kamiko and her father, Saku, had been occupied and couldn't find time to celebrate it. After all, things had been a lot busier in Daisuke Village since the mysterious attacks.

"I'll try to find your favorites." Kamiko promised.

Upon finding a good place to find the perfect flowers, Kamiko saw a little girl playing where some daisies were growing. "Hey!" Kamiko called, trying to grab the child's attention. "Where are your parents?"

The girl didn't give a reply. Instead, she started running, heading for the forest. Not that Kamiko didn't know her way around there, of course. She chased after her. "Wait, that's not safe if you're alone!" Kamiko warned. The girl may not have heard, or she didn't care, because she kept running deeper and deeper into the heart of the woods.

"Stop!" Kamiko pounced onto the girl to stop her, but instead, the child disappeared in a puff of smoke and she landed in the grass.

"Well, I guess Daisuke parents should teach their children to be wary of strangers, no matter how harmless they appear."

The speaker was a large tan man with long white hair, tied up with a ninja headband with a circle and a triangle positioned to look like a fish symbol. His body was covered with pouches that must have held several small weapons. On his back was a large sword, along with who-knows-what-else.

"…" Kamiko couldn't breathe. This was one of the ninja that were attacking her village, it had to be! By the looks of it, she was their next target.

"Hm. You don't seem to value your life enough. Why don't you scream?"

Why hadn't she screamed? Was it out of fear that she would only die sooner? "Why?" Kamiko asked, her voice cracking. "Why are you doing this?"

The ninja chuckled. "If I told you, you wouldn't live long enough to comprehend."

He raised his sword above his head, ready to strike down. Kamiko hid her face, not willing to see her own death. "Mother…"

There was a swift force that pushed Kamiko aside. She heard the ninja snarl with frustration, and felt a pair of arms hold her upright. "Maito Gai?" She asked, still afraid to open her eyes. She clung onto the figure that had saved her.

"My teammate? He's with your friend Lee at the moment. The name's Tetsu."

"Tetsu…" Kamiko opened her eyes to see the familiar ninja that had followed Gai and Fuji into Daisuke. He didn't look as strong as Gai. But Tetsu had other talents, as he was about to demonstrate.

"A Genin from the Leaf Village? This is all that was sent out to protect Daisuke? Our plans will be easier to carry out than we thought."

"Plans?" Kamiko's eyes shot up with fear, but it was ignored.

"Heh." Tetsu smirked, and bit his thumb. It was too fast for Kamiko to grasp, but soon there was another cloud of smoke, and a large white rat had appeared. Tetsu formed several other hand signs, and cried out, "Rodent Swarm no Jutsu!" and several identical rats joined the original.

"Wha-what's this? Stupid boy." The ninja got his sword ready, and started slashing away at the rats.

"Let's go." Tetsu grabbed Kamiko's hands and in a small "Puff!" they were gone.

After a long time of struggling, the enemy ninja had finally slain or frightened the rats. When he looked for his opponent he noticed the rats were only a diversion. "Clever."

"Where do you live?"

Kamiko's eyebrows shot up. "Huh?"

"So I can make sure you don't get ambushed on the way over to your house. Sheesh." Tetsu sighed. He hadn't stuck around with his teammates that afternoon, only because he disliked curry. Instead he managed to save a villager. How successful.

"Oh. Well, it's only down the road and to the left." She smiled. "Thanks for saving me, you know."

"No sweat." Tetsu yawned. "What were you doing down there, anyway?"

"I was getting flowers for my mom. My father still wants us to celebrate her birthday every year a memorial to her life."

"So she's gone?"

"Yeah. It was one of them- those people like that guy you fought."

"A ninja from the River Village…" Tetsu seemed thoughtful. "You know, those guys have never been so violent before. I'm going to tell sensei and the others about this. The River Nin must be hiding in the forest."


	5. Special Delivery

Kamiko was lying on her bed, thinking about the white-haired man that had attacked. The possibilities of him being the one who killed her mother were slim, since there had to be more than one. As she rummaged through these thoughts, the front door opened and Kamiko heard Saku come in. She kept to herself as he checked that everything on her list was done, and heard a slightly irritated sigh.

"Kamiko, are you here?" He called.

"Yeah." Kamiko forced herself to sit up. "I'm still here."

"Why didn't you do everything I asked?"

Kamiko wasn't sure how to answer this. "I… I must not have read the whole list well." No, she didn't know how to tell him the whole story, yet.

There was another sigh. Her father's footsteps were heading for his own room. "You can read the list again later, I suppose."

"I will do my best with anything I missed." Kamiko promised. Saku's door closed, and Kamiko wasn't sure if he heard her.

There was a knock at the door.

Kamiko tried to see who was there, but couldn't see a face. Whoever they were, they were hiding behind a large bouquet of flowers. _It couldn't be Lee…_ Kamiko thought, confused. She opened the door and recognized that green jumpsuit from anywhere. "Gai?"

Indeed, it was Gai at the door. "Hey, Kamiko. Tetsu said something about you trying to find some flowers for something. So I thought I could get them for you instead." He gave the thumbs up and smiled as Kamiko took the flowers from him.

"Gai…" She looked down at the beautiful flowers, thoughtfully arranged according to color. "Thank you…"

"No need to. Anything for a lady like yourself." Kamiko's heart fluttered at the statement, and her cheeks turned a light pink.

"That's really nice. Really, thank you. Umm… you could come in if you'd-"

"I'm sorry, Kamiko, but I need to get back to my training. It is our springtime of youth, after all!" He laughed nervously. "But I'd like to see you again, sometime soon."

Kamiko nodded in agreement. "Me too, Gai."

Gai's smile grew so that it took up over half his face. There was a puff and he was gone.

"Do ninja like doing that?" Kamiko wondered to herself, setting the flowers in a vase. Had Gai been told these were for her mother, or did he pick them for her?

Somewhere, Tetsu and his rats were training with Fuji and her own specialized Jutsu. Watching over them was their sensei, who stayed far enough away from his energetic students. Nobody turned to look at Gai as he came jogging into the scene.

"Gai…" Their sensei didn't even have to move to recognize the green beast's cheerful aura. "You… late? I'd never dream this day would come." He chuckled. "The end must be near."

Gai saluted, as one of Tetsu's rats sunk it's teeth into Fuji's arm. "Just dropping by a friend's place. I'm sorry, what should my punishment be?" Fuji growled and stabbed the rat with a kunai before charging at Tetsu.

Their sensei watched his other two students fight before responding. "Hrm. I can't think of a punishment, you seem to enjoy them too much." He scratched his chin. "Tetsu, Fuji, take on Gai with all you've got until he collapses with exhaustion. Or until I think of a better punishment…"

Tetsu and Fuji, now standing apart from eachother, took a break to nod obediently. "You weren't visiting Kamiko with flowers, were you?" Tetsu guessed. Fuji snickered.

"Kamiko…" Their sensei noticed Gai's face change colors. "That's a girl's name. If Gai's got a girlfriend… the end really is near after all." He laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "Mmkay, I'm going to go look for something. Keep practicing until you think you're ready to take on the River Nin, and then train even more until there's little chakra left."

"Yes sensei!"

**Hey guys! I hope you like reading this. You know what would be youthful? If you sent me a review commenting on what you like, what could be improved, just anything. I don't mean to be a bother, but it doesn't even take a whole minute! ; So review for Gai-Sensei! Thank you!**


	6. Yuka's Warning

A week had passed since Kamiko's dangerous encounter. Fuji, Gai, and Tetsu were nowhere to be seen for a few days, and it was a good guess that they may have been scouting Daisuke's woodland surroundings for anything unusual. Yuka made sure that Lee and Kamiko didn't ever leave her sight while Saku completed several jobs a day.

Lee was complaining about washing dishes as Kamiko watched customers walk in and out of their bar. A part of her wished she'd see Gai come in, but after six or seven days of watching this was unlikely to happen soon. "Doesn't she get that I have more important things to do?" Lee huffed, stacking another clean plate.

"Like?" Kamiko raised an eyebrow. Since when did Lee have anything important to do?

"Like… like… other stuff! That's what!" Lee's shoulders sagged a little. "Why are you acting like this, Kami-Chan? You're different."

Kamiko gasped lightly. She was different? How was she different? "I don't know what you mean." Kamiko claimed, rubbing away at a tough stain. "All I know is that somehow after cleaning my own house I've managed to find myself cleaning yours!"

As the pair argued with one another and continued to moan about their jobs, Yuka watched them both intently from a small distance as she wiped tables. Soon the dishes had been done, and it seemed that they were about to leave. "Kami-Chan, hold up!" She threw her cloth aside.

Lee and Kamiko stopped, and Lee looked disappointed. "Hey! What about me?" He whined.

"I'll talk to you later, Lee." Yuka promised. "But right now I only need Kamiko." She shot a stern look at her little brother, and he left in defeat. She sighed, and took a seat at one of the tables. "Well, you may as well sit." Yuka invited.

Kamiko casually took a seat. "So, what's up, Yuka? You seem to need me here a lot all of a sudden."

"Yes, well, your dad told me he saw a strange boy hand you flowers last week. He wanted me to keep an eye on you so you wouldn't do anything stupid while he's away."

Kamiko's face flushed. "It… it was a friend. Just a friend." She explained, partly wishing it wasn't completely true. Her head was starting to become dizzy, and she got a mental hold of herself. _The flowers weren't really for me, anyway, right?_

Yuka drummed her thumbs, watching Kamiko's face for any suspicious expressions. "Saku doesn't think so, but then again, after Aimi passed away, I noticed he's very cautious about you. You don't see him very often, but I do, and he's always worried about you, Kami-Chan." She placed both her hands in her lap. "Be careful."

Kamiko nodded. "Don't worry. I will." She promised, her dizzying head calming down.

Yuka finally relaxed, and motioned for Kamiko to leave. She did just that, and was rather eager about it.

"Kami-Chan!" Lee called, scanning his surroundings. "It's Lee!" He figured Yuka had finished talking Kamiko's ears off. But he still couldn't find her anywhere. "Kamiko!"

"Lee? It's Fuji!" Lee's head turned to the sound of her voice.

"Hey Fuji!" He chirped.

"Uh… right." She said, returning Lee's cheerful attitude, she also added, "Say, you know what'd be fun? If you guys came over tomorrow. Wouldn't it?" Lee's expression was just how she expected it to be.

"Hey, yeah! Wait… where?"

"That place we were at before. Actually, I was- we were hoping we could teach you guys some… things."

"Really? That's so awesome! Okay, we will!" Lee promised. His eyes were already brimming with excitement.

"Eh. Good. Good. I'll be- we'll be waiting. Oh, we'll be waiting, for sure." Fuji smiled to herself as Lee ran off to find Kamiko again. "That was easier than I thought, this village IS full of idiots." She thought aloud. "Not a suspicious type of people at all." She chuckled at the thought of tomorrow, before a puff of smoke revealed Fuji was not Fuji at all. "And then knowing the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, they'll all gather right where we want them. There won't be witnesses, and there won't be another squad sent out until it's too late."

"Lee! Lee, where are you?" Kamiko had looked everywhere Lee might be, only to find he was in none of those places. "Come on!"

Not to far away, someone else was also looking for somebody. When they heard Kamiko, their face lit up and they followed her voice. Soon the person found who they were looking for. "Hey, are you looking for somebody?"

It was like time had caught Kamiko off guard. "Gai?" She almost squeaked, recognizing his voice immediately. When time seemed to function properly again, she caught her breath. "You're… you're supposed to be with your- um…"

"My squad, correct?"

"Yeah. That. Them. But it looks like you're here instead. Heh…" _Stop talking before you scare him away, Kamiko!_ She thought desperately.

"Well, we spread out in the village today. Our sensei said to be on the lookout for any ninja that may have slipped in through a disguise. So if anyone seems to be acting in some way that isn't normal, just tell me or my teammates, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will! I'll be watching everyone!" _Now I sound like a stalker!_ "You know… stuff like that."

Gai nodded. "So… mind if I stick around for awhile?"

"Oh no! I mean, you can! Wait… yes! Hang on… I mean… why can't I talk right?" Gai started to laugh a little. "I sound silly, don't I?" She sighed.

"Maybe a little…" Gai said, still smiling. "But that's okay! It's the way that you try to cover your mistakes up…"

_Great._ Kamiko internally groaned. _It's not how I mess up that he thinks is weird, but how I try to make it better. Good going._

"…that reminds me of just how youthful we are!" He placed a hand on Kamiko's shoulder, making her face turn pink.

"I'm glad you think that way." She said, relieved.

"Yes." Gai agreed. "I'm glad I think that way too."


End file.
